Among the cultural traditions that spread across the Silk Roads, none was more significant than Buddhism. Buddhist monks, merchants, and missionaries traveled these roads, and the religion itself took root in the oasis cities of Central Asia and from there later spread to China, Korea, and Japan. In the two documents that follow, we catch a glimpse of life in these Central Asian Buddhist centers and their monasteries. The first derives from the oasis settlement of Niya, a commercial center on the southern route of the Silk Road at the edge of the Takla Makan Desert. Documents such as this, dating to around 300 C.E., reveal the involvement of Buddhist monks in commercial life, as they witnessed contracts and arbitrated conflicts, receiving payment in rolls of silk. They bought and sold land as well as slaves. Contrary to conventional monastic life, at least some monks in Niya also married, fathered children, and lived in their own homes. Even those who lived in the monastery participated in the local economy, much as did the ordinary residents of Niya.
Questions to consider as you examine the source:
Source 7.4A
Regulations for a Community of Monks, Third Century C.E.
The community of monks in the capital laid down regulations for the community of monks in [Niya]. It is heard that novices do not pay attention to an elder; they disobey the old monks. Concerning this these regulations have been laid down by his majesty in front of the order of monks. The elders Silabrabha and Pumnasena [are to be] in charge of the monastery. They have to administer all the activities of the community. [Disputes] are to be examined in accordance with the law. . . .
Source: Thomas Burrow, A Translation of the Kharoshthi Documents from Chinese Turkestan (London Royal Asiatic Society, 1940), 95. Adapted from the Bedford series book Xinru Liu, The Silk Roads (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 102.
Another Central Asian center of Buddhist life was the Kingdom of Khotan, located, like Niya, on the southern rim of the Takla Makan Desert. Enriched by the trade of the Silk Roads, Khotan flourished as a Buddhist society for a thousand years until it was overrun by Muslim armies in 1006. In the early fifth century, a Chinese Buddhist teacher named Faxian spent several months in Khotan while on his way to India and later wrote a description of what he witnessed there.
Source 7.4B
Faxian
A Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms, ca. 416
Having been on the road for one month and five days, we reached Khotan. This is a prosperous country, and the people there are affluent. They all follow Buddhist laws and enjoy playing and listening to Buddhist music. There are tens of thousands of monks, most of whom follow Mahayana teachings. All of the monks receive food from public kitchens (and thus do not need to beg food for themselves). In this country, people’s homes are not all concentrated in one location (as in most of China) but are spread out at some distance from each other, and every household is marked by its own small stupa [a tower housing relics of the Buddha]. The smallest ones are about two zhang [twenty feet] in height. There is a Buddhist hostel for guest monks and other travelers. . . .
The sound of a gong summons the three thousand monks to their meals. All enter the dining hall ceremonially and sit down in a designated order. The entire hall is totally in silence; even the noise made by vessels is absent. When a monk wants a servant to add more food, he does not call out to him, but raises his hand to summon him. . . .
There are fourteen large monasteries and numerous small ones in the country. On the first day of the fourth month, the people of the city start by sweeping the street and decorating its lanes [in preparation for a major festival]. . . . A four-
The kings of the six states . . . give all of their precious belongings away to support Buddhism. Humans hardly ever enjoy such things themselves.
Source: Faxian Zhuan Jiaozhu, translated by Xinru Liu, in The Silk Roads, pp. 105–